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wanderingbtrfly   
Not all who wander are aimless, especially those who seek truth.


Real Name: Sarah
Lives In: Seattle, US
Birth Date: April 14, 1983
Member Since: Feb 06, 2004
Last Login: Jul 06, 2009   04:14 UTC
Member's Time: Jul 06, 2009   15:31 PDT
VT Rank: 4135
Deals Rank: Unranked
Travel Interests: Budget Travel, Beaches, Backpacking, Trains, Work Abroad

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London, UK  8  14
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Des Moines, US  4  5
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Wichita, US  4  4
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Wandering this Earth ~ One Place at a Time

by wanderingbtrfly - last update: Aug 20, 2008

Welcome!

I am a twentysomething American woman who, at the age of 21, stepped out of my country for the first time: my friends and I went to England, France, Switzerland and Italy in 2004. My life was forever changed - and I mean that quite literally.

Since 2004, I have dreamed of visiting more and more places on the globe. The world outside my own country used to be interesting, but nothing I truly cared about. There were the few places on my list to see (Bahamas and Australia) but other than that, I truly thought America was the one place on the entire Earth everyone wanted to be.

My eyes were opened and I haven't been able to close them since. Not only did I learn how different things can be outside a person's home country, I also realized that most people around the globe simply don't care about America; they love their own culture and, although they have a McDonalds down the street, that doesn't mean that they would ever want to become an American. Frankly, looking back, I'm surprised at how closed I was to the rest of the planet.

Some days I wish I could go back to only having two destinations on my must-see list. Now, I lose count quite frequently. When I'm not losing count, I'm finding even more destinations to add to my forever growing list: from Wyoming to Libya, I want to see it all.

Trafalgar Square
While my wallet keeps me from traveling anywhere near to the amount that I yearn for, I have been blessed to go back to England twice. London, even though I have only spent a total of 15 days there, feels like a second home - a true home, even. Over the past few years, I have grown fond of the UK and its people - from their history and their culture to their way of looking at life, I've decided I really like them. I'd love to live over there eventually.

Another place I feel home is Italy. I spent a scant 7 days traveling through the uppper half of this country; it was pulling teeth to get me on that flight home. I felt like I had just arrived in a country, with a people, that I could live with forever, and 7 days later I got on a plane and left. I haven't been back since 2004.
Me at the Westminster Tube stop, London
I have since also become quite the history and geology enthusiast (of course, the last two courses in my general college education; oh, why can't you find things that interest you at the start of college??). This, as I'm sure you can understand, has lengthened my list many times over. It has also opened my eyes to the peoples of the world that desperately want to be freed of violence and oppression. Now, I not only want to see the world, I want to help it. I'm still trying to figure out how to do either while paying my bills.
I love the VT community! The help and support you all offer is unbeatable! I am working on being as helpful as all of you. I haven't been able to update my pages as much as I wish I could, but I have a renewed goal to work on them, so please bear with me. I hope you find my tips helpful. Check back often and feel free to e-mail me with any questions about any of the cities that I have been to.

Comments for wanderingbtrfly
glabah Fri Jan 30, 2009 20:24 UTC
 Thanks for your openness in describing your discovery of the world outside the USA. You've even now made it to be a top five in a particular location, which is something I haven't accomplished yet!
tzuki Mon Aug 18, 2008 22:04 UTC
 Hellou and thank a lot for your nice comment about my Photography :-) nice to hear that people still enjoy it! Enjoy summer time!!! smiles, tzuki
Etoile2B Mon Apr 14, 2008 17:35 UTC
 Happy Birthday from sunny California! Here's to many more wonderful years!
Bokhari76 Mon Apr 14, 2008 09:42 UTC
 Happy Birthday Sarah. Wish you many happy returns of the day.
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